God's imitator

Chapter 338 Simple Strategies
Cheng Wen followed Lin Sizhi into the "Minesweeper at Sea" room and looked around.

The layout here is quite simple:
There are four square screens on the wall, which are probably used to play 'single-player mode';

In addition, there are four different battle stations in the center of the room, each of which supports two-player battles. Both the seats and the operable screens are doubled and face-to-face.

In other words, this room can support a maximum of 12 players playing the game at the same time.

So far, only Lin Sizhi and Cheng Wen have entered the room. Other players were deterred by the hidden commission and transaction tax in the room.

In addition, the copycat who designed this game room made a major mistake: he did not use gambling equipment or card games, but instead used this semi-original game type.

In fact, Cheng Wen had already recognized the prototype of this game: a classic game called "Battleship", but it was still relatively niche compared to various common gambling tools and card games.

Moreover, this copycat actually changed some of the rules of the game.

If the game were played in the original "Battleship" style, players would place their battleships in a 10x10 grid, and these battleships would all be long and narrow, only differing in length.

It can occupy anywhere from 2 squares to 5 squares.

While "Minesweeper at Sea" has changed its name and packaging, it's essentially the same old thing with a different name and gameplay.

The biggest difference is that the original long, narrow warships were replaced with minefields of different shapes.

The shapes of these minefields are somewhat like 'Tetris'. Except for the 'small minefield' and 'continuous minefield' which are still long and narrow, the other three types of minefields have become 'three diagonal squares', 'square squares', and 'T-shaped squares'.

For Cheng Wen, there are no particularly good strategies in games like "Battleship" because it's hard to predict exactly how the opponent will position themselves.

Take the current rules of "Minesweeper" as an example. Players can place five types of minefields, totaling 18 squares, while the entire map has 100 squares.

Unless both sides know each other inside and out and know each other's placement habits in advance, whether you can win this game largely depends on luck.

Moreover, the game changes the long, narrow warships into irregular minefields, which further increases the game's difficulty.

According to the original rules, the warship is long and narrow. Once you hit a square, you can continue searching vertically or horizontally.

However, the game contains many irregular shapes, and hitting a square can result in a horizontal, vertical, or diagonal impact, which undoubtedly increases the difficulty.

If you play in single-player mode, all the minefields are randomly placed by the system, which may be more difficult than playing against real people, since real people may have some preferences, while the system's random placement does not.

Playing in two-player mode makes the game too deserted, and with the completely unknown payout system, nobody wants to play against each other.

Therefore, Cheng Wen himself would absolutely not play in this game room on his own initiative.

But then again, since Lin Sizhi voluntarily entered this game room...

That means there are some rules that Cheng Wen didn't notice.

Lin Sizhi didn't care that Cheng Wen was following behind him. He didn't seem to have any intention of playing the 'two-player mode'. Instead, he went straight to the 'single-player mode' area and randomly selected a monitor.

After depositing 500 chips, the game can officially begin.

In 'Single Player Mode', players will automatically take on the role of 'exploring the minefield', which simply involves clicking on the squares.

The only requirement is to find all the minefields within 60 clicks.

If you find it successfully, you will receive 5000 chips (after deducting commission).

If it cannot be found, then the 500 chips are gone.

Cheng Wen was somewhat puzzled, because he felt that this was a game with a very low chance of winning.

There are 100 squares in total, and it takes 60 clicks to find 18 squares, which doesn't seem very reliable.

...Lin Sizhi casually selected a spot relatively close to the center on the 10×10 grid and clicked it.

The grid changed from white to gray, but the 'mine' icon did not appear, which meant that he was not very lucky and did not hit the target on his first attempt.

But Lin Sizhi didn't care, and instead clicked on a slightly farther area again.

At the same time, Lin Sizhi said, "Actually, your speculation is largely correct."

"The higher the 'rake' and 'transaction tax' are, the sooner the game will be eliminated. And since the game 'Minesweeper' doesn't display the rake and transaction tax, it does give people a feeling that 'something is going on'."

"But what if, mechanics-wise, there's a guaranteed way to win and obtain stable profits?"

Cheng Wen was surprised: "A sure-win strategy? Stable returns? You mean this single-player mode?"

Lin Sizhi nodded: "Yes, no matter how randomly the minefield is generated, 60 clicks are enough to find 18 minefields."

"Of course, this is on the premise of implementing relatively simple and basic strategies, and not just randomly clicking around."

Cheng Wen subconsciously wanted to ask, "What exactly is the strategy?", but then felt that it would be presumptuous to ask such a question.

Since Lin Sizhi didn't chase him away, it means she didn't mind him watching.

Therefore, Cheng Wen carefully observed and tried to think about the underlying principles.

During this time, he looked out through the glass wall of the room with some concern.

Other players had already entered other rooms to start the game, and time was passing by second by second. In the "Minesweeper" room, there were still only Cheng Wen and Lin Sizhi, which made him subconsciously feel nervous and worried, as if he had been abandoned by the main group.

But after thinking about it, Cheng Wen decided to stay and continue to observe how Lin Sizhi would play this game.

Soon, Cheng Wen understood the strategy Lin Sizhi had adopted.

This strategy is indeed very simple; it's impossible not to understand it.

First, Lin Sizhi will prioritize clicking on a location relatively towards the center of the 10x10 map to 'investigate minefields'.

If he doesn't find a minefield, he'll move three or four squares away and click again.

If a minefield is found, the system will first explore the adjacent squares horizontally or vertically, and then explore the adjacent squares diagonally.

After eliminating a certain shape, Lin Sizhi would slightly change his strategy: change the search interval, or prioritize exploring diagonal grids.

Clearly, he only did very simple thinking and did not add any complicated game theory.

Even so, he successfully found all the minefields on his 56th click.

A celebratory sound rang out on the screen, and at the same time, some chips popped out of the coin dispenser next to it with a "whoosh".

Lin Sizhi took it in her hand and quickly counted it.

There are a total of 3500 chips.

Cheng Wen was somewhat surprised: "3500! Doesn't that mean the actual pumping rate is 30%? That's really ripping people off!"

"But on the other hand, I did earn 3000 chips."

"The only problem is, what if our luck turns bad next time?"

Lin Sizhi ignored it and simply placed another 500 chips to start a new game.

(End of this chapter)